England v USA: 1950 World Cup win over the Three Lions lives long in the memory

Back in 1950 a Hatian striker scored the winning goal as USA beat England 1-0
in one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. Today there is another
Hatian striker in the US ranks, is history about to repeat itself?

Back of the net: USA striker Joe Gartjens scores the only goal as England lost 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup. Gartjens was Haitian just like the current USA striker Jozy Altidore.Photo: AP

In 1950 the England manager Sir Walter Winterbottom underestimated the USAby leaving his talisman and arguably the world's best player, Sir Stanley Matthews, out of the starting XI.

It is almost unimaginable that Fabio Capello would do the same thing with Wayne Rooney now. Matthews sat on the bench and England went on to suffer their most embarrassing defeat.

Sixty years on England will hope they will learn from the past but if there is one bad omen the USA have another striker with Haitian roots in the form of the Hull City player Jozy Altidore.

In arid condtions in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, USA it finished 'USA 0 England 1'. Many thought it must have been a misprint for 10-1. At 35 years of age, Matthews was residing in the dugout about 20 years before substitutes were allowed.

Matthews exclusion from the team was unthinkable but the selector, Arthur Drewry, did not want to change the winning team that beat Chile 2-0.

Another 1-0 loss in their final group game, this time to Spain, saw England booking an early flight home.

USA's triumph is even more astounding when you take a closer look at their line-up, their team was a patchwork of nationalities all stitched together.

Along with Gartjens, there was a Belgian left-back, a Scottish winger Eddie McIlvenny and a former baseball player and hearse driver Frank Borghi playing in goal. They scored the decisive goal when midfielder Walter Bahr's shot from 25 yards was met by the lunging Gaetjens, who glanced the ball past Bert Williams.

"Those who didn't play could count themselves lucky," David Miller wrote in the Daily Express. "Sitting watching was agonising. We could have played for hours and not scored.

"It was a bad ground, the Americans fought and chased, our rhythm eventually went. We felt we had let everybody down at home, though the wasn't the same awareness of the World Cup then. If we had won, well, it was just a cup."